CFC hires Simon Richardson to develop property

Specialist lines underwriting agency CFC has appointed Simon Richardson to head its property practice.

In the newly created role, he will oversee CFC’s property strategy and underwriting approach to widen its market reach and attract a niche class of business.

The former director of Howden’s North America property and casualty division, Richardson has more than 10 years’ experience in insurance and reinsurance, predominantly within the US property and terrorism market.

CFC marketing manager Graeme Newman said: “Up until now, we have only had a small property portfolio, so Simon’s appointment is the first step in signalling to the market that we intend to develop this as a proper line of business.

“The next step is to build capacity. We also want to ultimately offer property on a standalone basis, to become a London market for niche areas of this class in its own right.”

Terrorism policy launch

CFC launched a terrorism product last year, which is currently only available in the US and allows brokers to get an online quote of up to $100m within minutes.

Newman added: “Translating this to property insurance and using technology to offer differences in conditions coverage, with seamless policy documentation to brokers and insurers, is an area that particularly interests us.”

Richardson said: “The trend is more about trying to speed up the ability to quote and find business and find areas of the sector that are ripe for innovation.

“I’ve been brought in to grow that, create efficiency and innovation, to target a niche class of business and to grow it out.”